Today is the 18th anniversary of the crash of United Airlines flight 232, a DC-10-10 that crashed at Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, on July 19, 1989. My good friend Joe Trombello is a survivor of this accident. Of the 296 souls on board, 112 died.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this terrible accident.

And an eternal thanks and my eternal admiration to Capt. Denny Fitch who turned certain death into a fighting chance to live. Also a hero's mention to the brave pilots of JAL 123 who inspired Capt. Fitch to do the extra simulator time to figure out how to drive with just the engines!

Hard to believe it has already been 18 years.. still a shame the mechanics did not see the crack when the DC-10 was inspected 16 months prior. God bless the victims and continued admiration to the entire flight crew. If it were not for their efforts, we'd be talking about the worst accident in US history when referring to UA 232.